I've traveled to Taipei on many occasions. Sucks you can't visit the rest of the country, because there is a lot to do around the island.

If you are going to stay in Taipei, here are some things to consider:

Food - if you're on a budget, eat from the street vendors. Everyone else does. It's dirt cheap and you will get full. Night markets are a great place for street food and a little shopping. Trinkets, knock-off purses, and other surprises can be purchased. Be prepared to barter for the best deal. And hold onto your wallets. There are pickpockets.

Here's some of the places to check out.

Shih Lin night market - open your eyes and noses. This is one of the best places to eat and shop in Taipei. Have an open mind to the various local cuisine. It is very affordable.

Snake Alley night market - those who have the stomach, see the sights and sounds of the night market next to Taipei's formerly notorious red light district. See a live demonstration of a vendor giving a live snake gutting demonstration, then go inside to eat snake soup and take shots of the drained snake's fluids.


Grand Hotel - this impressive landmark sits on a hill on the northern end of the city limits overlooking the Keelung River. It's played host to celebrities and dignitaries who have visited or traveled through Taipei.

Taipei Fine Art Museum - this is minutes away from the Grand Hotel to the South and sits in a large park. Features mostly Taiwanese artists and an occasional traveling exhibit.

Ximen - this is one of many shopping districts in Taipei but it's got a very youth oriented feel to it.

Taipei 101 - current tallest building in the world. What they didn't tell you is around the area is this is where the new Taipei nightlife is. For clubs I would suggest Plush. The area has shopping as well.

That's all I have. Hope you can see one or two of the not so touristy sites.

Alex

I spent my early twenties in Taiwan working as engineer. Taipei is a place for discovery that is for sure. I recommend a place really south of Taipei called Green Island. There are places called hostels that are cheap and the owners are accommodating. Taiwan has a special place in my heart. Go see for yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by jayclemons:
Another quick trip outside the city is to Beitou Hotsprings...you can get there on the MRT.

A real kick would be to go to the Chinese Culture and Movie Studio....not Universal Studios for sure...but should be a fun trip.

Always fun is just to go on an overpass and watch the traffic. No kidding, it is wild!
Motor scooters weaving every which way, even against traffic.

You can also drop by the nearby Weekend Floral Market and Jade Night Market on Chiankou Road near Da-an Forest Park.

The culture and movie studio close its door not long ago. I'll suggest you stop by the Grand Hotel in the Taipei country side for the view and pictures. The building and most of its employee are in traditional Chinese decors. If you do decide to go. Let me know, I may be able to hook you up to some sort of private tour.
My suggestion on food is never to eat in restrauants. Taiwan have some remarkable food, all can be very cheap, and unique. So go to the night markets, eat at the food stands. Most people are very nice and speaks some English (look for young 20 something). So you might find your free translator right on the street!

I just discovered "5 Takes" this afternoon, watching you in Sydney (a place I've always wanted to visit). Thanks for the great tips, I hope to use them there later this year.

Your show and site are cool. So, I had a look ahead, toward Taiwan. Guys, check this out: http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=1,2496,0,0,1,0 The Chung Tai Chan Monastery is Zen Buddism for the 21st Century. Home to 1,000 monks, the $110 Million state-of-the-art spiritual center is the latest incarnation of one of the world's most unique and spiritual faiths.

From the site: "If you phone ahead, a tour of the whole monastery can be arranged. Phone +88 6 49 2930 215 or email ctworld@mail.ctcm.org.tw "

I dont think most of us viewers even realized that Buddism had much survived Mao's Cultural Revolution, let alone prospered in the 21st Century. Give us a look?

quote:

dont think most of us viewers even realized that Buddism had much survived Mao's Cultural Revolution, let alone prospered in the 21st Century.

Er. . .well, that's because Taiwan is the Republic of China(yep, it's the ROC! Throw your diamonds in the sky!) and Mao was the leader in the People's Republic of China

Taipei recommendations:

*Nightlife - I really liked Room18 at Warner Village. Unless you want to hang out with expats and the local women who love them (and their money)- do not, do not, do not go to the Combat Zone. It's pretty gross.

*Eating + Nightlife - do make your way to a Taiwanese Beer pub. My favorite is the Indian Beer House, with it's dinosaur decor.

*Eating - Whatever you do, no matter how long the wait, you MUST go to Din Tai Fung. The best dumplings in the world. You must get the Xiaolongbao - the Shanghai style soup dumplings. The beef soup is pretty good too. It's a paper menu system - you check off what you want before you go in - and they should have english ones. I'd really recommend going to the Xinyi Road one (No. 194 (corner of Yunkang Street), Xinyi Road Sec. 2, Taipei
Tel02)23218928 Fax02)23215958) because it's the original and the 3 story narrow place makes for a more "authentic" feel. But the Zhongxiao location is much easier to get in and sit down (once we waited 2 hours at Xinyi).

I'm not sure about the Grand Hotel recommendation. I had to stay there once - crappy rooms . . .and four legged friends.

And it looks kind of tacky.

quote:

Originally posted by vtwenwen:
The culture and movie studio close its door not long ago. I'll suggest you stop by the Grand Hotel in the Taipei country side for the view and pictures. The building and most of its employee are in traditional Chinese decors. If you do decide to go. Let me know, I may be able to hook you up to some sort of private tour.
My suggestion on food is never to eat in restrauants. Taiwan have some remarkable food, all can be very cheap, and unique. So go to the night markets, eat at the food stands. Most people are very nice and speaks some English (look for young 20 something). So you might find your free translator right on the street!

Sorry I was not clear in my last message. No, don't stay at the Grand hotel. It is not in your budget to do so. Do, however, go there just for the view and pictures. The building and its decor are all modeled after the Classical Chinese royal families. http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/taipei/grandindex.htm

Dare: try beatle nuts! Warning: Do not swallow the juice nor the nuts.

Going back and reading over what you guys had posted earlier - I'd really suggest going to the hot springs at Yangmingshan - just to the north of Taipei. You can soak and overlook the entire city.

Website for Yangmingshan's hot springs

quote:

Originally posted by vtwenwen:



Dare: try beatle nuts! Warning: Do not swallow the juice nor the nuts.

I don't think they sell Betel nuts inside city limits anymore.

Ahhh...Taipei!

You might want to hit up the Core Pacific Living Mall which is a 12 story mall shaped like a globe. You've got to try BUBBLE TEA while you are there. Shin Lin night market is the bomb! Don't waste your time with other night markets like Shimin Ting. Go to Shin Lin and try some of the food that they are selling on the street (something that I was not brave enough to do).

good question I was just looking at the Taipei map over on Mapquest.fr It looks like they may have renamed the street, I used to live off of BaDa Street or "loo" and Fu Shing South /North Road. Is their a SOGO (about 10 or 12 stories) on what they are calling 7th street now between FuShing and DunHwa North Roads? A little north of DAAN district of the city?
Oh, by the way the hot springs public bath was in Bay Toe (well if you like phonetics) The MRT goes their (half way to Tamshui) if you walk up the road on the left side of the park there are some steps that go down to the stream and a public hot spring bath- is it still there ya'll? There was an earlier post on it. It was free when I lived there.

The Taipei Art Park is where I think the funky white modern art building is I just found the road that I think it's on -Zhong Shan sec 3 North. The tricky think when I lived there was they would mainly use Chinese characters on signage, and the western letters would actually use different systems for western depiction of the chinese sound.

Now that I've been looking more at the map it's probably the one on NanJing E. Road Section 3 (if I have the road right) When you find it go a litle east and down the alley to find the best Chinese breakfast food in all of Taipei-try to find a local to help you order something interesting or just try to order something you can see by pointing or miming. Have fun.

quote:

Originally posted by talltexan2:
good question I was just looking at the Taipei map over on Mapquest.fr It looks like they may have renamed the street, I used to live off of BaDa Street or "loo" and Fu Shing South /North Road. Is their a SOGO (about 10 or 12 stories) on what they are calling 7th street now between FuShing and DunHwa North Roads? A little north of DAAN district of the city?
Oh, by the way the hot springs public bath was in Bay Toe (well if you like phonetics) The MRT goes their (half way to Tamshui) if you walk up the road on the left side of the park there are some steps that go down to the stream and a public hot spring bath- is it still there ya'll? There was an earlier post on it. It was free when I lived there.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tskillet:

Er. . .well, that's because Taiwan is the Republic of China(yep, it's the ROC! Throw your diamonds in the sky!) and Mao was the leader in the People's Republic of China

Well that's debatable. I suggest you visit the National Palace Museum as a group, and learn the truth about Taiwan and the ROC. Politics aside, this is part of a huge tour and will take an entire day. We took it and it included this, the Martyrs Shrine (unknown soldier and guard ceremony), and the Chang Kai Shek memorial. It's also CHEAP, so I think you'll enjoy the history, the art and the truth. Besides, you can see Chang Kai Chek's Cadillac! on display!

For food, you MUST try Hot Pot. It's a chinese staple that is basically like Chinese Fondue. It'll make great TV. I tried several and the best by FAR was at a small resturant in Taipei called Wu Tsi and their special sauce is the most INCREDIBLE thing I've ever eaten!. The phone number is (02) 252-39183. Get their prices before going, I don't remember how much we paid. I just relished in the spicy food coma when I was done!

quote:

Originally posted by scalpel4:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by tskillet:



Well that's debatable. !

What's really debatable about that? Someone suggested they were surprised that there was a temple in Taiwan that survived the cultural revolution. It's not surprising since the Cultural Revolution didn't extend to Taiwan. Of course a budhddist temple in Taiwan is going to survive a revolution taking place in a country/place seperated by the Taiwan strait.

And I'd hasten to add that, as a neutral party, I don't think either the ROC or the PRC has a good handle on what is actually the "truth" of the split between the mainland and taiwan.

Afte the revolution, the Communists took power and the royal families and friends fled to Taiwan and setup a separate government. The short story is China tried to invade saying, "You're one of us, surrender!" Taiwan said, "We're separate, and we'll never recognize your rule!" Well China failed and was never able to cross the straight when they tried to invade. Taiwan declared independence long ago, China has just been successful at convincing the rest of the world that it didn't happen. Remember they tried to do the same thing at Tianamen, but weren't successful that time?

Politics aside, Taiwan says it's independent, China says not, and China is a bigger trading partner so more countries listen to them. That's simply the facts. Oh, and other than the exiles, the "indigenous" Taiwanese are actually decendants of Japan, not China.

Oh, one more thing to see, see if you can find a cheap Hot Spring! There's several in the mountains near Taiwan. My favorite is the Hot Springs resort, but that's kinda pricey for this.

quote:

Originally posted by scalpel4:
Afte the revolution, the Communists took power and the royal families and friends fled to Taiwan and setup a separate government. The short story is China tried to invade saying, "You're one of us, surrender!" Taiwan said, "We're separate, and we'll never recognize your rule!" Well China failed and was never able to cross the straight when they tried to invade. Taiwan declared independence long ago, China has just been successful at convincing the rest of the world that it didn't happen. Remember they tried to do the same thing at Tianamen, but weren't successful that time?

Politics aside, Taiwan says it's independent, China says not, and China is a bigger trading partner so more countries listen to them. That's simply the facts. Oh, and other than the exiles, the "indigenous" Taiwanese are actually decendants of Japan, not China.

Hmm. Not really accurate (for one thing, it wasn't the royal families that left, but the Nationalists - who led the revolt against the Imperial Government in 1911 - among some other inaccuracies), but I think for this show's purpose - it's safe to say that cross-strait politics are a contentious issue.

It's probably a lot better just to enjoy the food and culture of Taipei instead. (That being said, I found the tomb of CKS to be enourmous. . .ly dull - but you are doing yourself a MAJOR disservice if you miss the National Palace Musuem. It's full of all the imperial Chinese treasures that the Nationalists saved/stole (depending on who you believe) from the Forbidden City when they left in 1949.

Tomatoe, tomatou, political nuances anyway like you said. Facts are facts, even if I get the "names" wrong. But you're right, is it a contentious issue best left for another forum.

I'm glad you do agree on the palace museum. It's worth the days trip! When you went to the martyrs memorial, did you see the changing of the guard?

quote:

Originally posted by tskillet:

Taipei recommendations:

*Eating - Whatever you do, no matter how long the wait, you MUST go to Din Tai Fung. The best dumplings in the world. You must get the Xiaolongbao - the Shanghai style soup dumplings. The beef soup is pretty good too. It's a paper menu system - you check off what you want before you go in - and they should have english ones. I'd really recommend going to the Xinyi Road one (No. 194 (corner of Yunkang Street), Xinyi Road Sec. 2, Taipei
Tel02)23218928 Fax02)23215958) because it's the original and the 3 story narrow place makes for a more "authentic" feel. But the Zhongxiao location is much easier to get in and sit down (once we waited 2 hours at Xinyi).

Absolutely agree with tskillet about Din Tai Fung, if your budget allows. During my two-week stay in Taipei, I ate there 3 times! It is perfect for groups. The "dim sum" (delicate small items) comes in steaming hot baskets with about 8-10 pieces per order. Definitely get the Xiaolongbao, but try some of their sweet stuff too.

If you do visit any of the night markets, you will surely smell one of Taipei's local delicacies - stink tofu. They also serve chicken butt on a stick and pig's blood on a stick. Not that you have to try it.

Definitely get a "Chua Bing"- shaved ice covered in different things. To be less adventurous, get it with fruit. If you want to be more adventurous, go for the various sweek beans, taro roots, and jellies. Either way, definitely put condensed milk and syrup on it. I think the most popular places to get it is around the National Taiwan University area.

quote:

The Taipei Art Park is where I think the funky white modern art building is I just found the road that I think it's on -Zhong Shan sec 3 North.

i went to that museum. to get there, take the red (danshui line) and get off at yuan shan. walk across the park on the east side, cross zhon shan street, and there is the museum. from the museum, you can see the grand hotel across the river.

the price for an adult is 30 NTD, which about $1.

everyone agrees on the National Palace Museum, which I mentioned in my last post too. the national palace museum admission is only 100 NTD ($3-$4), which is a steal. take the red line to shihlin, then transfer to bus 30 (go east), and it takes you right to the museum.

here is the subway map.

someone thought that the chiang kai shek memorial was incredibly dull, but i think it is worth checking out. it is the one of the most distinguishable buildings in taipei. my extended family lives really close to there, so i made many trips. it has a park/garden where people exercise and stroll.